Essie Fall 2017 Collection : Swatches, Review & Comparisons

Sorry I've been MIA. The tail end of summer got so CRAZY busy that I couldn't keep up with swatching and blogging. But what better way to get back into the swing of things than with a brand new Essie collection?!

Essie Canada sent me the Essie Fall 2017 Collection last week so I'm so excited to be back to show you these gorgeous polishes and a bunch of comparisons. Soooo many comparisons actually. I had tons of DM's on Instagram with requests to see past Essie polishes with this current collection and I swatched everything that was requested! Let's get into it and let me show you this beautiful collection.

Mixtaupe

For some reason, this one never really grabbed me in the promo pics online but as soon as this collection arrived my eyes zeroed in on it. I absolutely love this shade. It's a taupe cream with a hint of pink. The formula was pretty good. It was mostly self-leveling and mostly opaque in 2 coats although a few nails needed 3.

Mixtaupe vs. Urban Jungle vs. Ballet Slippers vs. Miss Matched

Mixtaupe immediately reminded me of Urban Jungle and it did for you guys too because Urban Jungle was the most requested to compare. The photo shows these two as being dupes, but Urban Jungle is a bit lighter and greyer in comparison. Miss Matched was too sheer and pink but I actually found Ballet Slippers to be closest in colour, although they do have different finishes. Mixtaupe was a very opaque creme while Ballet Slippers is more of a crelly so it has a squishier feel. They're different but almost identical in colour. That's actually probably why I like Mixtaupe so much because I LOVE Ballet Slippers.

Mixtaupe vs. Topless and Barefoot vs. Lace Me Up vs. Between the Seats

These ones were all pretty different. Between the Seats has quite a bit of grey in it and Topless and Barefoot had much more tan and pink tones in it making it darker in colour than Mixtaupe. Lace Me Up was looking similar until I got the third coat on, which really made the baby pink tones in that polish pop. It was pinker and brighter than Mixtaupe.

Saved By the Belle

Gahhh! This pink is absolutely perfect. It's reminding me of PR Stunt which I fell head over heels with when I swatched and this one is giving me all those same butterflies. My nails are in a peely state, so I applied Fill the Gap as my base coat but skipped it on my thumb because it's not peeling. I have to say, this polish applied like a dream over my Fill the Gap fingers. Competely smooth, opaque and self levelled in 2 coats. My thumb however had some darker streaking and bald spots so it needed a third coat. Go with a good ridge filling base coat for this one to get the best results!

Saved By the Belle vs. Minimalistic vs. Muchi Muchi vs. Fiji

I took requests for comparisons and there were lots of pink requests! The only one I'm missing from this group is Ballet Slippers which someone asked to see. When I pulled it down off the shelf to put with the Saved By the Belle pile, I thought it looked way closer to Mixtaupe so that's why it got swatched in that group above. I honestly never would've picked that polished out, so thanks to the person that requested it!

As you can see, nothing here is really close. I'm gonna be Goldie Locks for a second and call this group "Too Pale".

Saved By the Belle vs. PR Stunt vs. French Affair

But these ones were "Juuuuuust Right".

PR Stunt, French Affair and Saved By the Belle are INCREDIBLY close! Pretty much in the dupe zone. PR Stunt has ever so slightly a bit more lavender as well as the subtle golden shimmer (which is more visible in person; both the lavender tone and the golden shimmer). French Affair is the teeny tiniest bit lighter but it's so so close you guys. If you've got either French Affair or PR Stunt then Saved By the Belle isn't a necessity.

As If!

Who else was obsessed with the movie Clueless?! Literally my favourite movie as a pre-teen and teen. My brother and I used to walk around and say all of Cher's catch phrases like when she'd make a 'W' and 'L' with her fingers and go "whatever...loser" and "as if!" This polish wins best name of the whole collection. The colour is a powdery periwinkle with a bit of grey tones. It has a great formula, is easy to apply and is opaque in 2 coats. It self-levelled really well and is super glossy without topcoat.

As If! vs. Petal Pushers vs. Cocktail Bling

Seeing As If next to Petal Pushers and Cocktail Bling, it's really not as grey as you think it is. It's definitely more of a periwinkle.

As If! vs. Lapiz of Luxury vs. Smooth Sailing vs. Pret a Surfer

I actually thought Lapiz of Luxury would be a dupe for As If, and while Lapiz of Luxury is definitely the closest in colour, it has a COMPLETELY different formula. LOL needed 3 coats and was really sheer, thin and watery, whereas As If was nice and creamy and opaque. LOL also had more purple tones. Pret a Surfer and Smooth Sailing are much more saturated, darker blues.

Girly Grunge

This colour is so quintessentially 90's! It's this smooth metallic, grungey purple and it's so cool. The best part is it's opaque in ONE coat. When you are polishing, be careful not to have too much polish on the brush because more polish drips down and you'll just need to keep wiping it off. Use a good ridge filling base otherwise you'll accentuate all the flaws in your nails and also keep your brushstrokes straight because they'll still be there when you are done. The colour is so cool. It reminds me so much of those cat eye bead necklaces that I used to have in junior high.

Girly Grunge vs. Nothing Else Metals

The only polish that came close is Nothing Else Metals. It was released in 2012 with other metallics like Penny Talk, Good As Gold and No Place Like Chrome, but was never added to the permanent collection so it can be hard to find. If you do own it, you can rest assured that it's a different colour than Girly Grunge which has more dark purple/slate tones to it.

Dressed to the Nineties

I COULD NOT wait to see this one on the nail! It is so freaking cool in the bottle! It has a super nice, easy to apply formula and it's really opaque. It was basically there in one coat but I did two. It doesn't have that obvious strong green shift like in the bottle, but it does show up as dispersed fine green shimmer on a deep indigo background. This is what it looks like indoors next to a window but it's even more obvious on the nail if you are outside in the sunshine. I like it! Even though it's not exactly like the bottle, I'm happy that those fine green sparkles are still visible on the nail. Makes this polish quite interesting.

Dressed to the Nineties vs. Kimono Over vs. Under the Twilight vs. No More Film

All of these polishes I compared to Dressed to the Nineties are cremes without shimmer, but I wanted to see if I could find a polish with a similar base colour. None of these are quite the same though. No More Film has a deep purple/indigo shade but Dressed to the Nineties is much deeper. Kimono Over was more plum in tone and Under the Twilight was dustier and more plummy as well. Even in indoor lighting, Dressed to the Nineties stood out on my nails as having shimmer in it as compared to the rest.

Dressed to the Nineties vs. For the Twill of It vs. Twill Seeker vs. Coat Couture

I chose these ones because they all had a kind of purplish base with blue or green shimmer. Not one of them is like Dressed to the Nineties though.

Knee-High Life

Knee-High Life is the most "fall" type shade of this collection. It is a really deep shade of raspberry that borders on burgundy. The formula is like butter, super smooth and creamy, perfect in 2 coats.

Knee-High Life vs. In the Lobby vs. Gala-Vanting vs. Raspberry

While I saw tons of raspberry tones in Knee-High Life, the Essie polish Raspberry was too pale in comparison. Gala-Vanting looks close in the photo but its actually more reddish brown and In The Lobby is a deeper burgundy.

Knee-High Life vs. Bahama Mama vs. Berry In Love vs. Bahama Mama

Nothing quite exactly the same in this bunch either. Maki Me Happy is more of a deep red. Berry in Love is pretty close and kind of looks dupey in this photo, but it's much more of a softer plum shade in person compared to Knee-High Life. Bahama Mama is darker and more burgundy.

I really like this collection! I like that it's not a typical set of "Fall" colours and yet I would totally wear all of them. A reader named "Colorado Chocoholic" noted that this collection's colour palette is actually spot on for the Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2017; for both the London show and New York, this is the exact palette. Essie always has things right in the fashion world, so that's probably why I'm digging so hard on this collection and the mix of finishes. The least interesting polish to me is Knee-High Life. While I didn't find any dupes for it in my collection, it's the one I would've skipped out on buying if I were buying this collection myself (although I do have a rather extensive burgundy collection! If you don't have a crazy amount of burgundy's like me, it had an awesome formula and would be a great addition to your collection.) I'd say Saved By the Belle, Mixtaupe and Dressed to the Nineties were my faves of this collection. Saved By the Belle and Mixtaupe are super flattering on the nail and the ones I will probably get the most wear out of, but Dressed to the Nineties looks so cool! It's a great twist on a dark and vampy fall polish.

Which polishes in this collection are you crushing on? Have you picked any up?

Hi Javiera! As soon as I was putting this post together I thought "shoot! I wish I would've done Truth or Flare" because I figured someone would be wondering! Anyways, it's the same saturation of dusty blue but they look totally different. If we had a colour wheel then Truth or Flare would be more to the green side of blue and As If! is more to the purple side of blue (if that helps). If you'd like to see a pic, just let me know your instagram handle or email and I can DM you a bottle shot or email it to you :).

Thanks Kindra, great collection review, as always. I got As if, Girly grunge and Knee High Life, before reading your review. I swatched on a plastic wheal before purchasing and found Mixtaupe to be a dupe of Jazz, which I have in my collection and love. I intended to buy Dress to the 90s because it reminded me of Kimono over, one of my favourites Essies. But was not impressed by the swatch, as the shimmer did not show very much.Your post make me think perhaps I shall get it anyway.....oh dear :-)

I like saved by the belle and mixtaupe. I haven't bought them as I do have some very similar colours in my collection already. I want to get some of the Essie Gel Couture fall collection, so need my money for them. Great comparisons, always so helpful.

I have As if and love it. I did wonder if it was a dupe for Lapiz of Luxury. The same tone but different colour. I've also ordered Pret a surfer in an online sale so I'm pleased to see they're different enough to warrant having both in my ever growing collection.

I enjoyed this collection a lot! My favorite was Knee High Life and Dressed to the Nineties! I know Knee High Life isn't particularly unique but the shade is so perfect for fall and really made me happy with how "fall" it made me feel!

I'll have all my thoughts on a blog post coming soon!

As always, your post is full of quality swatches and top notch comparisons!

I just got Girly Grunge from this collection. Looks really pretty and unique to my collection. I discovered a way to get rid of some of the brush strokes - mix a bit of Sil Vous Play with it. Very pretty! And Sil Vous Play is too light for me, so this is a great way to use it!